Home - East Dean and Friston Parish Council

Next Parish Council Meetings

Parish Council - 9th June (Note: change of date due to Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday).

Planning Committee - 17th May.

Recreation Ground

Pavilion bookings are now being taken for the summer season (subject to availability). For more information click here. The open area of the Rec. remains fully accessible for exercise and the tennis court and play area are also open, but you are urged to comply with Government recommendations regarding keeping safe.

Community Services within the Village

Charity of the year 2022/23

Churches
Cuckmere Community Bus route 41
Community Watch / Neighbourhood Watch
Emergency Plan
Residents' Association
Tree Warden
Village Directory (at Aug 2021)
Village Hall

Village website

Who Looks after What?

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Your Councillors

Finance Meetings

Full Council
Planning
Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group

Welcome

Welcome to the East Dean and Friston Parish Council website. We hope that you enjoy browsing it and finding out more about our village and its council. We always welcome feedback from our site visitors, so if you have any comments or suggestions for improvements then please let us know via the "Contact Us" link.

What's new?

Latest Update - 23rd May 2022

Support for Ukraine: The Parish Council, together with our local church, Residents Association, Community Watch and other volunteers are working to provide support to residents who wish to host refugees from the conflict in Ukraine or help in other ways. Further information can be found on our "News and Information" page or by clicking here. It has now been announced that around 1200 refugees are due to arrive in East Sussex, with Wealden District expecting to accomodate some 500. More information on this can be found here.

The most recent meeting of the Planning Committee took place in the Village Small Hall on Tuesday 17th May. The minutes can be found on our "Council Meetings" page or by clicking here.

Annual Village Meeting: After a two year gap due to the Covid pandemic, it was great to welcome over 60 residents to the Village Hall on 20th May for the Annual Village Meeting. The evening included presentations by local clubs and societies, as well as a chance to question Parish Councillors. The minutes of the meeting will be published shortly. For pictures of the event go to our "News and Information" page or click here, and for the meeting agenda click here.

Gilberts Drive Speed Sign: As part of the Parish council's determination to curtail motorist speeding in the village, a digital speed sign has been purchased and installed in Gilbert's Drive. For more details go to our "News and Information" page or click here.

Bin Strike - Latest Update: As advised earlier, members of the GMB union working for Wealden's waste contractor, Biffa, are continuing with their strike action. However, Wealden hope to be able to carry out about half of the household rubbish bin collections and householders are asked to put out rubbish bins as normal, but recycling and garden waste collections are suspended. Updates on the latest situation can be found on the Wealden website or by clicking here.

Charity of the Year: At the Annual Parish Council Meeting it was resolved to appoint the Kent, Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance Charity as the council's charity of the year 2022/23. An immediate donation of £500 has been made to the charity and they will also benefit from charity collections made throughout the coming year. Further information on the charity can be found by clicking here.

The Annual Parish Council meeting was held in the Village small hall on Thursday 5th May and was immediately followed by the regular monthly meeting. The minutes for both meetings can be found on our "Council Meetings" page or by clicking here.

Defibrillator Training Session: Following the installation of cabinet-based defibrillators around the village, the Parish Council has now arranged a training session for anyone interested in how to use these life-saving devices. The session is taking place at 7:00pm on 30th June in the Village Small Hall. To book a place please contact the council admin officer (admin@edfparishcouncil.org.uk )

Downsview Lane Bus Stop Restored At Last: After many years of lobbying by the Parish Council, the north-side bus stop at Downsview Lane, which was demolished in a motor accident, has now been restored. For further details see our "News and Information" page or click here.

Safe Space App: Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne has launched a new app called ‘Safe Space Sussex’. The app is aimed at helping people should they feel unsafe outside of their home. It has been developed following detailed consultation with partners and public regarding the safety of women and girls in Sussex. Further information can be obtained by clicking here.

Platinum Jubilee: The Parish Council, together with other village organisations, are making plans to celebrate HM the Queen's Platinum Jubilee during the first week of June. A final programme of events was distributed with the May edition of the Parish Magazine and can also be found on our "News and Information" page or by clicking here. The organisers hope that residents will support these events, marking a unique occasion in our nation's history.

Jevington Road Closure for Gas Main replacement change to dates: Details of the proposed closure to through traffic of the Jevington Road (C40) have now been revised and can be viewed by clicking here. The first phase will now go from October to the beginning of December this year. Despite objections from the PC and residents, this is deemed necessary for safety purposes. The contractors have, however, said that the total closure at all times is a "worst case" scenario and they will try to keep the road open as much as possible.

The Parish and its Council

The Parish of East Dean and Friston is located between the south coast towns of Seaford and Eastbourne, situated on the southern edge of Wealden District in the County of East Sussex and within the South Downs National Park. It is a relatively large rural area, comprising the village of East Dean and Friston, together with the smaller hamlets of Birling Gap and Crowlink. The A259 main coast road passes through the Parish with the old village to the south and the newer parts of the village (known as the "Downlands Estate") to the north. The Parish is primarily residential, covers an area of 3.3sq miles and consists of some 760 households with a population of around 2,200.

East Dean Village is centred around the Village Green with its war memorial, medieval church and long-established inn, “The Tiger”. To the North-West of the village, as the A259 ascends Friston Hill, is the area known as Friston, which was originally a separate village with its own church at the top of the hill.

Birling Gap is a coastal hamlet with a long shingle beach, backed by the famous Seven Sisters cliffs and not far from Beachy Head. The Birling Gap visitor centre and cafe, and some of the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.

Crowlink is a small hamlet grouped around a manor house; in the 18th century it was a haven for smugglers of Gin that became known as "Genuine Crowlink". It was also once the home of the Edwardian author, Edith Nesbit, whose best-known work is “The Railway Children”.

Parish Councils were formed in England under the Local Government Act 1894 to take over local oversight of civic duties in rural towns and villages. Before this date a variety of groups based around ecclesiastical (church) parishes had responsibility for these matters, in a system of local government that originated in the feudal system of the 8th century. The establishment of Parish Councils effectively separated church from state and today's councils are totally secular in nature and independent from the Parochial Church Councils that deal with the administration of the local Church of England places of worship.

Following the 1894 Act, both East Dean and Friston began Parish Meetings (not council meetings) and East Dean then formed a Parish Council in 1924. The Friston Parish Meeting merged with East Dean to form the East Dean and Friston Parish Council in 1948.

Parish Councils are the first tier of local government and have limited variable tax raising powers. The component part of the Council Tax, which comes to the Parish Council, is known as the Precept.
Parish Councils are responsible for areas known as civil parishes, and there are approximately 9,000 Parish Councils in England. East Dean and Friston is one of those civil Parishes. Although there is nothing to prevent Parish Councils being political in nature, the current East Dean and Friston PC members are all independent of any party political sponsorship. The current Parish Council was elected in 2019 and is due for re-election in May 2023.